Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access

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an initiative by Kolkata's WB National University of Juridical Sciences, aims to draw grossly under-represented and disadvantaged sections into the ambit of legal education

Our Einsteins live in our villages: that assertion by Dr CNR Rao, principal scientific advisor to the Prime Minister, has found an echo in the spirit that drives Shamnad Basheer's dream project, 'Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA) in legal education'. 'Our Palkhivalas are in our villages,' he could well be saying.

Does the late jurist and economist Nani Palkhivala need an introduction? In a nation driven by the "either-a-doctor-or-an-engineer" credo, he probably does. And that explains why legal education remains out of bounds for large swathes of India.

In June, a project team engaged in the IDIA sensitisation programme in Tumkur, Karnataka, faced a similar situation. As a part of the programme, some clippings of famous lawyers such as Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Jawaharlal Nehru, SM Krishna, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were played. Surprisingly, the students seemed most excited when told that Malavika Avinash, a Kannada television actress, was a lawyer who graduated from the National Law School of India University. In fact, the number of students who recognised Malavika was far more than those who could identify the US President.

After the IDIA pilot project at Pelling, Sikkim, Prof Basheer admitted one of the main challenges: "Some of our brightest students (in Sikkim) who had done well in the aptitude test and seemed eager to seriously consider law as a career faced resistance from parents and teachers because they wanted them to be either doctors or engineers.' The situation is similar in Basanti High School in the Sunderbans. Here the IDIA team realised that school students had little idea about law as a career. Though they had heard of the three-year course they did not have any idea about the five-year integrated course that the National Law University offers.

But the team IDIA still believes that 'if all goes well, we can all hope that a legal Phunsuk Wangdu (the protagonist of 3 Idiots) will come out of a National Law University soon. After all, the 400 patents of the fictional Phunsuk Wangdu will need a good patent attorney!'

With this notion, IDIA the 'mass movement' for a more diverse legal profession, kicks off at WB National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. IDIA is an initiative of the institute to make law education popular among economically and socially backward classes, the minorities, ethnic groups and the physically challenged.

The national law schools are widely seen as the preeminent legal institutions in India. But over the years these institutions have turned into elitist hubs with a severe lack of representation from marginalised sections, particularly economically weaker sections. A variety of factors have contributed to this, including the extremely high fee structures, an entrance examination (CLAT) that now requires extensive and expensive coaching as a prerequisite, and most important, a lamentable lack of awareness about law as a career among low income students in small towns, rural areas and non-mainstream institutions. An 'IDIA' whose time has come The net result is that the current student composition in many of these law schools lack any serious diversity and comprise mainly English-medium educated students from middle class or upper middle class families. The numbers from rural areas, small towns or non-English speaking schools are deplorable.

IDIA seeks to find ways to reach out to the hitherto marginalised and under-represented groups and help those interested to acquire admission to law schools. It is hoped that such access to legal education in favour of the marginalised and under-represented would empower them and the communities that they represent. According to Prof Basheer, who heads the project: 'An efflux of diverse student populations would make for a more optimal melting pot of views and perspectives at such law schools and consequently enrich the process of education.'

The programme has already travelled to Murshidabad and Pelling (in Sikkim). For the immediate future, apart from Bengali medium schools in Kolkata, southern India (Kerala) and central India (Chhattisgarh) will be covered. Keeping CLAT in mind, earlier this year, NUJS student Ramanuj Mukherjee, under the inspection of the university, independently launched an online social networking platform 'CLAThacker: don't just crack CLAT, come hack CLAT with us'. The main idea is to help those from poorer backgrounds to "crack" the CLAT online. Not only that, in June IDIA Hyderabad conducted an aptitude test in an intermediate college run by Devnar Foundation in Ranigunj, Hyderabad.

Talking to TSI, Mr Mukherjee expressed concern regarding the present scenario in legal education, 'I can still remember when I decided to quit medical school after a year and get into NUJS, an army of relatives/well-wishers/acquaintances descended upon my parents asking how they could allow me to do something so "stupid"! Thankfully, my parents are of the opinion that children should be allowed to choose their own careers. But how many parents in India think along the same lines?'

No doubt this is a great effort by the NUJS team. But will it at all be helpful for the masses? Questions have already started emerging. As one NUJS alumnus speculates, 'A diverse selection of students would mean that more students would opt to litigate - their command over their local languages, added with premier education, would be an advantage that the entire legal community in the country will benefit from. But the fact is most of those who account for a majority of the students in law schools, do not litigate. Most actually opt for a comfortable life with a high-paying desk job instead of running around in courts and learning the "real" stuff.'

'But yes, the fact remains that we need more "good" lawyers from different walks of life - law is, after all, meant for everyone, and not just for a high-flying, English-speaking bunch,' he says. That is why the idea that IDIA has come up with is so welcome.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Naresh Nunna reviews Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy's political play called 'Condolence Tour' and finds him slipping against a seasoned K. Rosaiah and an adamant Congress High Command

Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy (Jagan) keeps repeating that his Odarpu Yatra (Condolence Tour) is merely a 'personal tour', which the party and the government have nothing to do with. But the cause of Jagan's dissidence is too obvious. The plans of this Kadapa MP, the only legal heir of the late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy who was killed in a helicopter crash in Nallamalla forest in last September, to step into his father's shoes were dumped aside by the Congress High Command. But, Jagan, with his many business ventures, some known and many unseen, needs a lot of government support. In other words, he must be at the helm of the government to run those ventures uninterruptedly.

Thus, frustrated by the High Command's stubborn reluctance to make him the chief minister, Jagan has been allegedly planning major political disturbance to dethrone K. Rosaiah, trying to prove the latter as inefficient.

'The real strategic role of chief minister K. Rosaiah lies in provoking stone pelting openly,' sources close to the chief minister told TSI under the condition of anonymity. Rosaiah, a 76-year-old veteran with five decades of political experience and a man who has introduced the state budget 16 times, including seven in a row (a record in the country), is apparently weak and an abiding loyalist of the High Command. With the same visible weakness, he started poking Jagan silently, leading the High Command to take a dig at Jagan.

After taking over the reins of the state after YSR's sudden demise, Rosaiah shunted out bureaucrats and police officials close to his predecessor. Major among them was the replacement of V. Rajagopal, director of mining and chairman of Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), with an IAS officer Praveen Prakash. Rosaiah also transferred another senior IAS officer, Y. Srilakshmi, secretary in industries and commerce department, who was handpicked by YSR and entrusted with key task of handling mining lease and licences. Both Rajagopal and Srilakshmi allegedly aided and abetted YSR's kith and kin, as most of the galaxy mines of Prakasam district and Barites mines in Kadapa district are in their control. YSR's close aide and later the mining minister of AP, Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, YSR's co-brother Y. V. Subba Reddy, YSR's nephew Dushyant Reddy, Raghava Reddy of Midwest Company, Koneru Prasad and a few other luminaries of the mining world have been often accused by opposition parties for illegal mining. The loot during the YSR tenure was estimated by opposition parties to be worth a whopping Rs 75,000 crore.

Rosaiah made the department levy heavy penalties on YSR's kith and kin i.e. of Jagan following fresh enquires into the old irregularities. It was the last straw and Jagan trained his guns directly on Rosaiah. Meanwhile, Rosaiah silently leaked truce proposals from the Jagan camp to national dailies, including The Hindu. Rosaiah also added fuel to the fire with his direct interaction with the High Command during his visits to Delhi. Thus, the subtle tactics of Rosaiah made Jagan wage a direct war not only with Rosaiah but also with the High Command. Rosaiah was also successful to wean away Jagan's loyal cadre in the state Cabinet. Several ministers in the Rosaiah Cabinet used to call on Jagan whenever the latter visited city. The shift of loyalty is clearly evident when a section of YSR loyal ministers made a scathing attack on Jagan, countering the latter's remarks on Rosaiah. The ministers accused Jagan of amassing thousands of crores of rupees in a short span. The ministers and some MLAs have understood this and are gradually isolating him. Father, son and the holy vote Jagan's condolence tour is meant to console the families of those who died after the demise of his father. It has drawn serious flak from the Telangana agitators as Jagan claimed himself as a pro-United Andhra leader. The Congress High Command has issued a 'no yatra' writ which Jagan defied, asserting that his tour had no political overtures. However, the police arrested Jagan and put an end to the drama on the grounds of a law and order problem. So, in a do-or-die situation, Jagan has initiated the next phase of his tour on his father's birth anniversary i.e July 8 from the northern coastal region of Srikakulam with multiple political aims. First among them is to understand the real strength of the 'YSR constituency' and flaunting the same before the High Command. The YSR constituency refers to the number of loyal voters of YSR. Jagan wants to assess the size of that loyal constituency and weigh the chances of transfer of that votebank to him.

'It is difficult to statistically separate the loyalty of the voters between the party and the individual leader,' senior journalist Ashok Tankasala told TSI. In the 2009 elections, the Congress won 33 MP seats. Each MP constituency has 7 Assembly segments, but the party won only 156 Assembly segments.

'If YSR's charisma was the reason for the Congress party's success, the party should have won more than 230 Assembly segments or at least 200 seats. The empirical evidence further shows that the difference between the victorious Congress and defeated TDP was only 1.8 per cent votes. If one factors in Chiranjeevi, whose PRP party obtained 16.22 per cent of the total votes, had not been present, the results would have definitely been different,' another analyst said.

'Jagan is able to mobilise people due to the power of his money which is in abundance,' Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao told TSI. Some senior Congress leaders also alleged that many lorries were and trucks were engaged to transport people and that the Jagan camp was pumping in enough money to make his Odarpu Yatra a grand show.

'Chiranjeevi, in terms of crowd pulling ability, definitely supersedes anyone else. But, drawing crowds does not mean that will translate into votes,' veteran Congress leader Palvayi Govardhan Reddy told TSI.

Political analysts are sensing a haste in Jagan towards floating a regional party or towards creating a fissure in the state Congress with a YSR-loyal faction. If his 'dissident' act (yatra) provokes any disciplinary action from the Congress High Command, Jagan is ready to portray it as the Congress party's ungratefulness towards his father. But veteran strategist Rosaiah and the High Command has made Veerappa Moiley, the party's AP affairs in-charge, a close confidant of the Jagan camp, announce the suspension note of loquacious Rambabu Ambati. Enthralled by the versatility of the drama, the media swarmed around a seemingly disgruntled Jagan and sought his reaction on the 'warning' from the High Command. 'God is there and above all my father's blessings are there,' Jagan replied, indicating a fierce battle ahead.

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Mamata Banerjee is drawing flak for neglecting the ministry

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but as a response to an RTI query from TSI shows, the railway minister isn't doing as badly as her immediate predecessors. A report by Vikas Kumar

If despair often blurs reality, chaos completely engulfs it. With the Indian Railways being rocked by another tragic mishap, the second in Bengal in two months, that is exactly what supporters of mercurial Trinamool Congress leader and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, must be thinking. The feisty lady is being pilloried ' and not entirely unjustifiably ' by her political rivals for neglecting her ministerial work and focusing her energies on Bengal politics even as the railways under her charge lurches from one devastating wreck to another.

But the question is: is the 63,000-km stretch of the railways and the musty corridors of Rail Bhavan any worse off under her than they were under her predecessors of the past two decades?

The fact is that Mamata is running for cover. The Railway Ministry, which was adjudged the best performing ministry during the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadav, has suddenly started hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. But what may be apparent is not always true. Going by cold statistics, Mamata certainly isn't the worst Railway Minister of the last two decades.

Data available with the Commissioner of Railway Safety for the period 1991 to 2010-11 shows that she has fared much better than her predecessors. During the tenure of CK Jaffer Sharief, who served as Railway Minister from July 21, 1991 to November 22, 1995, Indian Railways saw more than 500 accidents every year. The number of accidents in 1993-94 was 587, resulting in a death toll of 226. In the year prior to that, when two railway ministers, George Fernandes and Janeshwar Mishra, held the post, the number of mishaps was 532 and the death toll crossed 200.

Nitish Kumar, the current Bihar Chief Minister who loses no opportunity to take swipes at Mamata Banerjee for running the railways from Kolkata, seems to suffer from selective amnesia. During his tenure of almost a year, the number of fatalities was 374, which is the second highest during a single-year tenure of any railway minister. Similarly, with 302 fatalities, Lalu Prasad's record as railway minister is only marginally better. Mamata is fifth on the list of worst performers in terms of rail mishaps. Mixed signals When it comes to misusing the railways, Mamata's record is once again far better than that of her immediate predecessors. The Railway Ministry, in a response to an RTI query filed by TSI, gave out data of railway passes issued by respective railway ministers. This makes interesting reading and reflects the differing approaches of the ministers.

As far as free distribution of railway passes is concerned, Ram Vilas Paswan was generosity personified. During his one-and-a-half-year tenure from June 1, 1996 to December 29, 1997, he issued 597 complimentary rail passes. Of these, 445 were issued in the last year of his term.

Nitish Kumar does not seem to be lagging far behind. He issued 414 passes during his first one-year tenure in New Delhi's Rail Bhavan. On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee, during her first term as Railway Minister, issued no more than four passes.

Nitish probably took a leaf out of Mamata's book and improved his record during his second term. He issued no free pass from 2001 to 2004. This discussion will remain incomplete without mentioning Lalu Prasad Yadav, who issued 352 passes, out of which 134 passes were issued in a single year span of 2008-09.

A senior level officer, on condition of anonymity, told TSI, 'During Nitish Kumar's second term, some steps were taken to improve safety standards of the railways. However, during the Lalu Prasad regime, safety concerns were put on the back-burner in a mad race to generate revenue. Modernisation of the railways was put on hold. The negative impact of that trend is being felt now.'

Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who filed a separate RTI regarding the Ministry of Railways, says, 'No recommendation has been made by the Railway Minister for her personal staff." On the other hand, another RTI response revealed that Lalu Prasad had made free lifetime passes for himself and an assistant. When Mamata assumed office she cancelled all these passes. She also drastically reduced VVIP quotas on all Bihar-bound trains. The RTI response also revealed that she does not use the official vehicle that she is entitled to as railway minister.

A hue and cry after a major mishap is nothing new for the railways. Lalu Prasad said, 'One should see why such accidents are taking place. This is a big lapse.' However, the Rs 17000-crore fund for the railways has remained unutilised. Ramavatar Singh, general secretary of the Railway Workers' Union, says, 'Two years ago, there were 7000 gangmen in Delhi. Today it is only 800. This is the situation in every department of the railways. How can we assure safety?'

Mamata can be criticised for not devoting enough attention to her Ministry, and it is true that the railways is suffering as a result, but her track record is much better than many of those who have handled the ministry in the recent past.

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KERALA MAGIC: A spellbound audience

IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri: The New Age Woman

Ammu first young Indian to drive two-wheeler blindfolded

When Ammu was only three years old she got the magic bug. As a young learner she was able to pick up the trick of the trade quickly. And at the age of 13 she drove a two-wheeler blindfolded. Since then she has never looked back, vowing her die-hard fans with her tricks. She was at the centre of attraction at the world women magicians' conference at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, last month.

Internationally-acclaimed magicians, like Luna Shimada, who had converged on the venue to showcase their tricks were well impressed by the 16-year-old girl. Recognising her talent, they promised to help hone her magic skills. According to a famous magician Gopinath Muthukad, Ammu is the youngest girl to have driven a two-wheeler blindfolded, setting a national record. She performed her first magic show at the age of five and appeared on more than 5,000 stages, claims her father Muthukulam Rajasekharan, a freelance journalist. She won the Maya 2010 award at the world women magicians' conference.

Of late, she has been holding magic shows to eradicate social evils like smoking and alcoholism. It was extremely successful, says Ammu. 'Once an old drunkard watched my magic show and after that he thanked me for educating him. It is difficult to change habits, but such shows are useful,' she says. Also, she has performed in other states, including Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Ammu has become a popular magician. Recently, the Regional Cancer Centre of Thiruvananthapuram, roped her in for a magic show in Kollam district against smoking, a major cause for cancer. Besides, she has also begun to impart training to students fond of magic. 'My aim is not only to win accolades but also to popularise the art of magic among youngsters,' she adds.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Thirsty in the land of rivers

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As Punjab's groundwater turns toxic and scarce, the state faces the grim prospect of a severe crisis, reports Jatinder Kaur

The land of five rivers is fast running out of water and its people are losing their cool. As the Punjab groundwater table sinks and a major crisis looms on the horizon, tempers are beginning to rise. But the state government seems unperturbed.

One recent incident should have served as a wake-up call. But one isn't sure that it has. In Jalandhar's Basti Sheikh, when a municipal corporation tanker was supplying drinking water, a violent altercation between two neighbours ended in the death of one of them.

Trouble erupted when one Nand Lal and his son were filling their buckets. Another Basti Sheikh resident, Vikas Manchanda, tried to jump the queue. Nand Lal protested. Fisticuffs ensued. The punches that Manchanda threw at Nand Lal proved fatal. The latter succumbed to the blows.

This tragic incident occurred just before the nor'westers brought some relief from the blazing sun. It highlighted the magnitude of the water shortage that Punjab is in grip of today. The state is anything but water-deficient, but the manner in which its residents have over the years exploited the life-giving resource has pushed Punjab to the brink of what could prove to be a catastrophe.

The state is in the throes of a severe water crisis that is getting worse with each passing year. Indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater for both agricultural and drinking purposes has led to rapid depletion. Of the 12,423 villages of Punjab, 11,849 are facing a shortage of drinking water. The water level in 30 per cent of the state was found to be 20 metres below the ground in 2005. Moreover, the water that is being drawn from the ground has alarmingly high sodium carborate content.

A survey conducted jointly by the Punjab Agricultural University and National Bureau of Soil Survey discovered that 57 seven per cent of ground water was not fit for consumption. In Muktsar, only 38 per cent groundwater is fit for drinking and agricultural purposes, in Faridkot 33 per cent, in Mansa 35, in Bathinda 19.77 per cent and in Moga 14.98 per cent.

The total area under cultivation in the state is 42.68 lakh hectares and the requirement for water is 43.7 lakh cubic metres. Availability is only 31 lakh cubic metres. The groundwater table has been going down 30 cubic meters per year. The water level has declined dangerously in 108 of the 138 development blocks that constitute Punjab. Most of the affected blocks are situated in the Malwa region. Despite the water crisis, Punjab has not formulated a water management policy. Union sports minister M.S. Gill has this to say about the worsening situation: 'We are dependent on canals, dams, tube-wells and rain water for irrigation. If these sources dry up, the agricultural tracts in the state will turn into wasteland. When I was the development commissioner of Punjab from 1985 to 1988, I had suggested that tube-wells should be installed only by licence and that a rule be framed for not boring beyond a particular limit. All should get an equal share of water irrespective of their economic status.' Gill's fears weren't unfounded. If such indiscriminate use of water continues, the land of five rivers, India's granary, will be reduced to a barren desert. Agricultural experts hold that water shortage is linked to the issue of water pollution. These two issues cannot be viewed separately. Along with misuse of water, there is excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides to get bumper crops. According to a survey, Punjab utilises twice as much fertilisers and pesticides as the rest of the country put together.

Most areas in Punjab are under wheat and rice cultivation. The latter is more dependent on water, so paddy cultivation has aggravated the water crisis in the state. The state government had passed an ordinance forbidding paddy plantation before June 10. The main aim of this ordinance was to curb the use of tube-well water. Monsoon hits Punjab only in late June but farmers seeking two crops of paddy start plantation early by using tube-well water. This has led to the depletion of the groundwater table. This year, paddy plantation in Patiala was started as early as end-May this year.

The government has been turning a blind eye to this flagrant violation of the ordinance. Organic farming campaigner Umendra Dutt says: 'Water is a gift of nature and is considered a purifying agent. We have polluted it so much that it has turned poisonous. We will have to pay a heavy price in the future.'

Dutt says that the responsibility for water conservation does not lie with the government alone. The entire population should be become a part of this essential mission. 'Punjab should have a water budget and proper water management should be introduced across the state. This should be done at the individual, town and zonal levels. Irrigational, industrial and household use of water should be regulated.'

The water crisis is also related to loans that farmers take for agricultural purposes. H.S. Randhawa, former professor of chemistry, Punjab Agricultural University, says: 'Earlier farmers would obtain loans for tractors or threshers, but now they are seeking loans in order to sink tube-wells too. But as the groundwater table goes down, these bore-wells are rendered unusable after a couple of years. The farmer is still repaying the old loan when the need for another loan arises.' If something isn't done about the water situation, Punjab agriculture might be living on borrowed time.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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